RICH ORANGE CARROT CAKE

What a weekend, The Cruelty Free Festival was incredible and I was so pleased to meet lots of beautiful new faces. A special thank you to everybody who signed up to the blog (hello, this would be your first email!) and to all of the people who went out of their way to tell me how much they loved The Lush Scoop magazine. Thanks to all of your kind words, I am currently in the process of lining up an array of amazing vegan goodies for an e-mag release next year so keep your eyes peeled!

To celebrate all of you newbies, I just had to share this amazing orange + carrot cake recipe from issue 01. It's one of my favourite recipes and always goes down a treat with my omni friends and family, so give it a go!

Serves: 8Prep time: 20 minsCooking time: 45 minsDF / GF / V

CAKE

2 & 1/2 cups oat flour (GF oats processed into flour)

3/4 cup shredded coconut

4 Tbs flaxseed meal

2 tsp baking powder (gluten/aluminium free)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbs chia seeds

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3/4 cup panella

3/4 cup coconut sugar

3/4 cup walnuts

1/2 cup dates

2 cups almond milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 orange (juiced)

2 large carrots, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 200c./2. Line a circular spring form cake tin.3. Process the oats into a flour using a food processor.4. Chop walnuts & dates – put aside.5. Combine the oat flour, coconut, flax–meal, spices & sugars.6. Add the rest of the ingredients & mix all until well combined. Then stir in the walnuts & dates.7. Pour batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 35-45 minutes until golden. A skewer should come out clean.8. Place the cake on a cooling rack and proceed with the icing.

ICING

6 dried organic figs

6 medjool Dates

1/2 cup water (more/less as needed)

1/2 cup coconut oil

Shredded coconut (optional)

Orange zest (optional)

1. Soak the figs & dates in hot water for 10 minues until softened.2. Remove the figs & dates (reserve the water) and blend them in a food processor until creamy.3. Add melted coconut oil & repeat.4. If the icing is too thick, add some of the reserved hot water and repeat (The batter should be thick enough to spread without dripping down the sides of the cake).5. Once the cake has cooled, spread the icing on top and add orange zest & shredded coconut.

*Note: If the dressing firms up in the fridge, leave it on the counter for 20 mins before using.